exterminator
Americannoun
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a person or thing that exterminates.
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a person or business establishment specializing in the elimination of vermin, insects, etc., from a building, apartment, etc., especially by the controlled application of toxic chemicals.
Etymology
Origin of exterminator
From the Late Latin word exterminātor, dating back to 1605–15. See extermine, -ator
Vocabulary lists containing exterminator
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One is the Jewish son of an exterminator who rose to Harvard; the other the cerebral product of a striving Black middle class.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025
The department also said that its own inspection this week did not reveal any black worms, and that the jail maintains a contract with an exterminator.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2024
While the war on rats has no end in sight, the exterminator Edwards said we can learn a lot from their resilience.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 13, 2024
"I've got an exterminator coming in tomorrow to do another set of sprays," he told the BBC on Friday.
From BBC • Oct. 7, 2023
A roar of noise—an exterminator just leaving a house, pump bellowing—overtakes them.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
